While Jon Stewart made the most impact of The Daily Show on Canada, Trevor Noah and his version of the program did talk about Canada a few times. Noah's last show as host airs tonight so we thought to look back.
Craig Kilborn is the answer to the trivia question: "Who was the first host of The Daily Show?" Don't feel bad if you don't remember those days or the job he did before he flipped to Comedy Central (SportsCenter on ESPN). Kilborn was the host from the start in 1996 to 1999.
The Daily Show will have a new host and possibly a format change on January 17, 2023. Let's go back and check out the Canada highlights on the Trevor Noah, who has been the host since 2015, version of the program.
The show had some quality coverage of the Syrian refugees coming to Canada. The idea of having a Canadian discuss a Canadian film on U.S. television was marvelous: that moment was wasted on an absolutely terrible film that had little to do with Rob Ford, despite the hype.
Tatiana Maslany should have been on to discuss Orphan Black during its run.
Samantha Bee and John Oliver were in many ways the true heirs to what Jon Stewart was doing. The idea of doing this montage for Samantha Bee was put on hold, figuring someone would have picked up her show. That was a bit naive on our part. 7 years was a really good run for a show killed for arbitrary reasons. Discovery has a lot of terrible moves in the takeover of Warner Brothers.
We might do a tribute to Samantha Bee's show. We were hoping she would find another outlet for her program.
Canada is technically international from the United States, though sometimes Canada is treating as the domestic market (think cars and motion pictures). Trevor Noah didn't grow up in the United States so there was hope that he would approach Canada differently. The best work from this edition of the program came when refugees were involved: Syrians to Canada and refugees within the United States heading to Canada.
Good luck to the show and its new host. Thanks to Trevor Noah and the rest of the people for giving us your take on Canada.
The Daily Show runs on Comedy Central in the United States and CTV Comedy Channel in Canada.
Editor's note:This story has been updated to reflect an extra Calgary Flames game on TNT (28), the removal of HNIC from the feed (17), an additional Ottawa game (22), and an extra Winnipeg game (23).
TNT gives the U.S. audience an all-Canadian matchup with the Vancouver Canucks in Calgary (14). The U.S. network had an all-Canadian game last season and gave that to John Forslund. Hoping not to have a repeat of that assignment. Edmonton travels to Dallas (21) in a matchup where ESPN was so fascinated, that network carried both Oilers games in Dallas but couldn't set foot in Edmonton.
ESPN had a game involving a Canadian team in November but is dark in December.
NHL Network has some Hockey Night in Canada love with Toronto Maple Leafs road games in Dave Randorf country (3) and the U.S. capital (17). The U.S. channel also some HNIC love for the rematch of the 1993 Stanley Cup finals at the Bell Centre (10).
The Ottawa Senators are involved in the other NHL Network game with a Showcase game in Minnesota (18).
ESPN+/Hulu went from 1 game in October to 0 in November to 3 in December. The U.S. network is still afraid to come to Canada but is willing to show the Edmonton Oilers on the road in Minnesota (1) and Seattle (30). The U.S. network loves to show Canadian teams in Dallas, proving so with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third-largest city in Texas (6).
Rogers Sportsnet is keeping the Toronto Maple Leafs to itself on December 3. As we've noted, Sportsnet does this on occasion to boost its Sportsnet NOW subscriptions. The Maple Leafs will likely struggle in western Florida that night while CBC shows the high-flying scoring of Montréal at Edmonton. If I were glued to the couch in Canada, watching the Habs and Oilers would be more fun.
CBC and Citytv are not showing Hockey Night in Canada on December 31. The networks are carrying New Year's Eve programming. The games are available on various Sportsnet channels.
The NHL will take a holiday break from December 24-26.
TNT
December 14 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p December 21 Edmonton @ Dallas, 9:30p December 28 Calgary @ Seattle, 10p
NHL Network
December 3 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p (HNIC) December 10 Los Angeles @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) December 17 Toronto @ Washington, 7p (HNIC) December 18 Ottawa @ Minnesota, 2p (Showcase) December 22 Washington @ Ottawa, 7p December 23 Winnipeg @ Washington, 7p
ESPN+/Hulu
December 1 Edmonton @ Minnesota, 8p December 6 Toronto @ Dallas, 8:30p December 30 Edmonton @ Seattle, 10p
Hockey Night in Canada
December 3
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p/Montréal @ Edmonton, 7p/San Jose @ Ottawa, 7p/Washington @ Calgary, 10p/Arizona @ Vancouver, 10p
The start of Toronto Maple Leafs games feels very different without Martina Ortiz Luis singing O Canada at Scotiabank Arena.
We've seen Luis on Wynonna Earp so we know she has more ambitions than just anthem singing. Her inflections on O Canada was beautiful and truly unique. Good luck to Martina Ortiz Luis in her career.
Ryan Reynolds would need a sugar daddy or sugar mama, in his words, to be a part of the ownership of the Ottawa Senators. The challenge is intriguing. The Canadian actor is part owner (with Rob McElhenney) of Wrexham AFC in Wales, a team in the lowest level of professional football in England. Their ownership is featured in Welcome to Wrexham.
The hope is that new ownership would be tied to a deal for a new Ottawa-based arena at LeBreton Flats. There may be fewer people working in downtown Ottawa these days but a downtown arena will do wonders for the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
Rogers Sportsnet will carry all 3 versions of the Battle of Alberta on a national basis in Canada. The fact that there are only 3 games involving these exciting rivals is a true shame, especially after such an amazing playoff series this spring.
Other than the all-Canada division of 2021, the U.S. outlets have shown Connor McDavid type speed to avoid broadcasting the Battle of Alberta. So we can't be surprised that TNT and ESPN showed no interest in carrying any of those games. TNT is willing to come to Canada while ESPN still hasn't been on Canadian soil. The NHL Network also came up empty (again) in not showing this rivalry.
ESPN hasn't shown Calgary anywhere but does have 2 Flames games scheduled this year.
U.S. fans should note that December 27 is the final Battle of Alberta game. ESPN+ will have the game via the Rogers Sportsnet feed.
"(Ottawa GM Pierre) Dorion’s worked hard to see what’s out there, and I believe he’s come across two challenges. One is that he’s dealing from position of weakness and teams are trying to hijack him. Two is that there are plenty of players who can block a trade to Canada, and it’s possible that’s happened. It’s not an Ottawa issue, but a Canada issue."
Elliotte Friedman said what was in our minds. We thought the end of the primary portion of the pandemic meant Canada was a slightly more desirable destination.
Higher tax rates, though paid in American dollars. Pressure-filled markets and media coverage. Snow and lots of it. More customs experiences.
This spring marks the 30th anniversary of the Stanley Cup being presented to a Canadian team: Montréal Canadiens in 1993.
Players want to win the Stanley Cup. They will play in Canada if they think that team will win the Stanley Cup. Think of the significant number of NHL players who weren't alive when the Habs won the Cup or not old enough to remember.
The guys from Triumph hosted the Hockey Night in Canada intro on November 12, which was the Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend. Triumph has a documentary out called Triumph: Rock and Roll Machine. We will have a review some point soon. Worth a watch to learn some Canadian music history.
Harnarayan Singh has been the primary fill-in for Rick Ball on Calgary Flames telecasts on Rogers Sportsnet West while Ball is out with a pulmonary embolism. John Bartlett also stepped up for some Flames games out east.
He returned on November 12 on Hockey Night in Canada, his first game since the first game of the season. He is also doing road games, which is a bit of a surprise. As we said last month, our thoughts go out to Ball, his family, and friends during his continuing recovery.
Ball also made a trip to After Hours to talk with Scott Oake and give thanks to all the well wishing people.
Speaking of After Hours, Scott Oake had a special co-host in Las Vegas last Saturday. Gary Lawless was a journalist covering the Winnipeg Jets before the Golden Knights hired him. The After Hours co-hosts haven't had journalism experience such as what Oake has, but the co-hosts aren't employed by the team whose player and coach appear on the show.
I get the whole deal with Lawless being on while Oake is in Las Vegas, but Lawless being employed by the team should be disclosed.
If Scott Oake had Sara Orlesky on after a Winnipeg Jets game, her employment status should be disclosed. When you have former journalists and the implication is that they are a journalist, that dispels actual journalism. This may seem a matter of semantics but as lines blur, disclosure is paramount.
Tara Slone landed on her feet in the South Bay with the San Jose Sharks in a content position similar to what Sara Orlesky is doing with the Winnipeg Jets. The former Hometown Hockey host was let go when Rogers cancelled the show over the summer.
Sharks fans and South Bay residents should hope Slone ends up in a bar playing music. Slone was the lead singer of Joydrop and has had a solo music career.
Her music cred came in handy when having bands on Hometown Hockey. Sorry that the show was gone and glad she found a good NHL opportunity. Hard to imagine a kitchen party in San Jose but here's to trying.
ESPN signed recently retired defenseman P.K. Subban to their coverage. Subban will work primarily as a studio analyst and also work as an occasional in-game analyst.
Subban has charisma that will take him far in a broadcasting career. ESPN is smart to have him start out mostly in the studio to get more experience.
November 6 Toronto vs. Carolina, 5p Mike Monaco/Brian Boucher/AJ Mleczko ESPN November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p Dave Randorf/Shane Hnidy/Nabil Karim TNT November 12 Ottawa @ Philadelphia, 1p Stephen Nelson/Mike Rupp NHL Network November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT November 19 New Jersey @ Ottawa, 1p Stephen Nelson/Kevin Weekes NHL Network November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p Alex Faust/Shane Hnidy/Jackie Redmond TNT November 26 Edmonton @ NY Rangers, 1p E.J. Hradek/Kevin Weekes NHL Network November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p Kenny Albert/Eddie Olczyk/Keith Jones TNT
TNT got smart and brought in Dave Randorf. This was in part because Randorf covers what was the home team (8). Still, Randorf understands the idea of a national telecast, a difficult task at times for some U.S. national announcers.
Randorf is one of the few announcers who has called a national game in Canada and the United States.
ESPN had audio issues with AJ Mleczko at ice level. Unfortunately, we could hear Brian Boucher just fine. ESPN should work harder to have Ray Ferraro on the few games they cover with Canadian based teams.
The TNT primary crew was in Edmonton on November 16. Olczyk is now on the West Coast so being out west isn't a stretch. Albert, Olczyk, and Jones are good announcers to have in a dog game and that game (16) was a dog.
I liked the days of Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes calling games so having Weekes on a showcase game is great. Stephen Nelson is growing on your humble narrator and has an edge over E.J. Hradek.
Shane Hnidy, former Winnipeg Jets analyst on TSN3, called 2 games on TNT, the latter involving his current employer. Randorf and Hnidy are good guys but looks bad to have them work games with their present employer in a national telecast.
We decided to include the October 15 games since they appeared on the NHL Center Ice free preview.
The Sunday night block is defined as Heartland, Great Canadian Baking Show, and Moonshine. The Buzzr is a CBC Sports newsletter. My Life as a Rolling Stone: Sixty Years of Rock and Roll is only on CBC Gem.
Good to get some love for Season 2 of Sort Of in the CBC promos on CBC and CBC Gem.
The October 15 (early game) Family Feud Canada promo aired before the start of the 2nd period. The October 15 (late game) The National promo aired before the start of the 3rd period. The November 5 curling promo aired before the start of the 3rd period, which is a technical violation. Promos are supposed to run during game action. We know this game went fast but Rogers Sportsnet is supposed to air 6 promos, not 5.
The November 26 game also only had 5 promos. They had plenty of time and opportunities to get in that 6th promo but made other decisions.
The November 12 game was via the Citytv feed, not CBC.
October 15 early game: Fakes; The Buzzer (1st); Family Feud Canada; Sunday night block (2nd); The National; Summit '72 (3rd)
October 15 late game: Fakes; The Buzzer (1st); Family Feud Canada; Sunday night block (2nd); The National; Summit '72 (3rd)
October 29 early game: Sunday night block (1st); Summit '72; The National; Moonshine; Skate Canada International (2nd); Great Canadian Baking Show (3rd)
November 5 early game: Moonshine; Sort Of (1st); Great Canadian Baking Show (2nd); Mixed Doubles Curling Super Series; Sunday night block (3rd)
November 26 early game: My Life as a Rolling Stone: Sixty Years of Rock and Roll; The Fifth Estate (1st); Marketplace; Soccer North (2nd); Sort Of (3rd)
The Toronto Argonauts 6-game Grey Cup streak went up against the 3-peat hopes of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 2022 Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The game itself was kind of a snoozefest in the first half though in typical CFL style, the end of the game was exciting.
The Argos bested the Blue Bombers in a 24-23 battle to win the 109th Grey Cup.
The kickers were definitely in the spotlight.
Toronto's Boris Bede missed a 36-yard field goal attempt early in the second quarter but did get a single. That was theoretically the difference in the 1-point win. Winnipeg's Marc Liegghio missed a convert after Janarion Grant's Grey Cup record-setting 102-yard punt return.
Liegghio made a 45-yard field goal but had a 47-yard field goal attempt blocked. Bede was 3-6 in field goals, missing from 36, 52, and 42 yards, one of those being a blocked field goal attempt.
The kicker could be to blame, depending on which team won the Grey Cup. Many Blue Bombers fans haven't been happy with Liegghio for some time.
Chad Kelly has had very few chances to shine as the Toronto backup quarterback. McLeod Bethel-Thompson barely was a .500 quarterback, going 15-for-28 for 203 yards before dislocating his thumb in the fourth quarter. Kelly went 4-for-6 for 43 yards with a key scramble that set up a late touchdown.
Zach Collaros was relatively human, going 14-for-23 for 183 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Collaros was dealing with an injured ankle. Credit to the Argos defence for putting considerable pressure on Collaros. The Argos defence had 4 sacks and 2 interceptions.
The idea of the same winning player winning the Grey Cup most valuable player award and most outstanding Canadian award seemed impossible. Andrew Harris changed that in 2019 and now Toronto middle linebacker Henoc Muamba pulled off the feat in 2022.
Muamba had a key interception late in the fourth quarter.
Getting back to the Grey Cup had been a long road for Muamba, who played for Winnipeg in 2011 when the Blue Bombers lost to BC. That was Muamba's rookie year and only Grey Cup appearance before last night.
Speaking of Andrew Harris, this was his 4th Grey Cup win and 3rd in a row.
Toronto's Robbie Smith, who just a few plays earlier had extended the game with a 15-yard face mask penalty, also blocked Legghio’s kick. A fine line between goat and hero.
The Toronto Argonauts did lose the Grey Cup in 1987 to Edmonton. Since then, the Argos won the Grey Cup in 1991 (Calgary), 1996 (Edmonton), 1997 (Saskatchewan), 2004 (BC), 2012 (Calgary), 2017 (Calgary), and 2022 (Winnipeg).
The Edmonton franchise has the only 2 streaks of longer than 2 straight Grey Cup wins since the modern CFL era started in 1954.
Years
Team
Streak
1978-1982
Edmonton
5
1954-1956
Edmonton
3
2019, 2021
Winnipeg
2
2009-2010
Montréal
2
1996-1997
Toronto
2
1968-1969
Ottawa
2
1961-1962
Winnipeg
2
1958-1959
Winnipeg
2
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats wouldn't mind just winning a single Grey Cup. The Ticats streak dates back to 1999.
The Toronto Argonauts are now 7-0 in Grey Cups over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. True, those previous wins came between 1937 and 1950. The Argos were victorious in 1937-1938, 1945-1947, and 1950.
Was odd not seeing Matthew Scianitti or Sara Orlesky on the sidelines at a Grey Cup game on TSN. Scianitti is in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup and Orlesky works for the Winnipeg Jets. Claire Hanna and Farhan Lalji did really well on the sidelines for the 2022 Grey Cup.
We should also note that this was a season free of screwups from the ESPN channels, ESPN+, and TSN. No audio issues from the TSN studio or technical issues from the ESPN folks. Hopefully, that will keep going in 2023.
CFL Commissioner Randy Ambroisie leaked out that the league will switch to Saturday playoff games though the Grey Cup stays on Sunday. If this sounds familiar, the CFL did this in 2008 and then switched back in 2009. We may start to care in about 11 months.
The 110th Grey Cup will be in November 2023 at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton.
For the first time since 1986, Canada is relevant in a men's World Cup of football (soccer). Canada is in Group F in Qatar, site of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Canada's opponents in order of appearance are Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco. Canada went 0-3 in games and 0-5 in goals in 1986, the only other World Cup appearance for the men's team.
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) and Jonathan David (Lille) led the Canada squad.
Midfield stars include Stephen Eustaquio (FC Porto) and Atiba Huchinson. Hutchinson would be the oldest player ever to play at a World Cup at 39 years, 9 months, and 3 days.
Canada will not be at full strength. Goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau fractured his leg while playing for LAFC in the MLS Cup. His team had a better day, pulling off the comeback. Centre back Scott Kennedy suffered a shoulder injury with German club SSV Jahn. Toronto FC centre back Doneil Henry was injured during warmups before a friendly match with Bahrain.
The goalkeepers will be Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade) and Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United) along with CF Montréal goalkeeper James Pantemis, who replaces Crepeau.
John Herdman will lead the way as head coach of the Canadian men's national soccer team.
Times listed are Eastern time. Qatar time is 8 hours ahead of EST.
CTV and TSN have the coverage in Canada with both outlets carrying the Canadian matches. The Bell Media outlets have extensive pregames for the Canada games and coverage starting 15 minutes before the times listed in the above table.
Fox Sports has the coverage of games in the United States. JP Dellacamera, Cobi Jones, and Geoff Shreeves will have the first Canada match on Fox. Dellacamera and Jones call the other Canada matches on Fox Sports 1.
The tournament starts tomorrow though Canada won't play until Wednesday.
Canada played Morocco in 2016, a friendly game that Morocco won 4–0. The countries played 2 other matches against each other. The only time Canada played Belgium was a friendly game in 1989. Belgium won 2–0. Canada has never played Croatia.
Canada, ranked at 41, is the lowest seed based on October 2022 FIFA rankings in Group F. Belgium is ranked at 2, Croatia is at 12, and Morocco ranks at 22.
Toronto Life has a bandwagon guide for those catching up on football (aka soccer).
The Canadian women's team in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup learned its opponents: Australia (co-host), Ireland, and Nigeria in Group B.
The women's team has made 8 World Cup appearances since its debut in 1995. The team's best result was 4th in 2003. The women's team is the defending gold medal champions from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Twitter captures: @CanadaSoccerEN; @Sportsnet photo credit: FIFA
The Toronto Argonauts have the Grey Cup rematch they wanted in 2021. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are looking to do something very rare in the modern era: win 3 Grey Cup titles in a row.
Toronto and Winnipeg will play in the 109th Grey Cup to determine the CFL champion at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Argos running back Andrew Harris has some very unfinished business, having signed with Toronto after leaving Winnipeg. Harris has 3 Grey Cup rings, 1 with the BC Lions (2011) and the Blue Bombers (2019, 2021).
This is the first time since 2018 that both top seeds made the Grey Cup. Calgary defeated Ottawa that season for the Grey Cup.
While this is the first trip for the Argos to the Grey Cup since 2017, Toronto has won the last 6 Grey Cups as a participant, a streak that goes back to 1987.
Due to the quirk in the scheduling where not every team plays each other home and home, the only time these teams met was on July 4 where Winnipeg edged out Toronto 23-22 at BMO Field. The Argos missed an extra point late in the game.
ESPN2
Sunday Toronto vs. Winnipeg at Regina, 6:30p
TSN
Sunday Toronto vs. Winnipeg at Regina, 6:30p
Ja'Gared Davis has been to every Grey Cup since 2016 when he first started playing to the CFL. The defensive end still hasn't had to buy a ticket to the CFL title game.
Davis played for Calgary (2016-2018) and Hamilton (2019, 2021) before moving on to Toronto in 2022. Despite playing in the last 5 Grey Cups, Davis only has a single Grey Cup ring with the Stampeders win in 2018.
Hank Ilesic has the record with 7 consecutive Grey Cups (1977-1983). Ilesic won 6 of those 7 Grey Cups (Edmonton 1978-1982, Toronto 1983). He started with Edmonton in 1977 straight out of high school as a punter.
Ryan Dinwiddie is in his first Grey Cup as a head coach for the Toronto Argonauts. Dinwiddie's first Grey Cup as a player came in his first CFL start. He came in off the bench for Kevin Glenn for the 2007 Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Blue Bombers won the East but Glenn suffered a broken arm in the East final.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders snapped a 18-year streak by winning the Grey Cup in 2007.
Mike O'Shea has won 2 Grey Cups as a head coach for Winnipeg. O'Shea's 4 other Grey Cups were with the Toronto Argonauts. He was a part of the Grey Cup winning teams in 1996, 1997, and 2004 as a linebacker and 2012 as a special teams coordinator with the Argos.
Dave Naylor plays a bit of "what would have happened" in terms of Zach Collaros and the 2 teams in this year's Grey Cup.
But in terms of moments than changed CFL history you only need to go back to October of 2019.
That’s when then Argos GM Jim Popp negotiated a contract with Collaros whom Toronto had acquired from Saskatchewan a few weeks earlier.
Collaros hadn’t dressed for Toronto while healing from a head injury he suffered while playing for the Roughriders. But Popp was betting on him to be the Argos starting QB in 2020.
He scheduled a meeting with Argos president Bill Manning to get the deal approved. But when he got there, Manning fired him and the Collaros contract was never signed or registered to the league.
Three days later, the Argos new management team traded him to Winnipeg. The rest, as they say, is history.
A reminder that Jim Popp is a football talent genius. Anthony Calvillo played for Las Vegas and Hamilton in the CFL before landing in Montréal. Collaros had several stops in the CFL before finding a really good match in Winnipeg. Some people questioned whether Collaros could come close to where he was at that point in his career.
Winning back-to-back Grey Cups in the CFL modern era (since 1954) is pretty rare. Only Edmonton has had a longer streak in that time: 5 times (1978-1982) and 3 times (1954-1956).
The Ottawa team with the streak was the original Rough Riders.
Winnipeg went 14-2 in 1960, the only year between 1958-1962 where the Blue Bombers didn't make or win the Grey Cup. Winnipeg lost 2 out of 3 to Edmonton in the CFL playoffs and didn't advance to the 1960 Grey Cup.
The last time these teams played each other in the Grey Cup was the 1950 title game known as the Mud Bowl at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. The Argos posted the last Grey Cup shutout 13-0 over the Blue Bombers.
We hope in great earnest that the Grey Cup revelry has returned in 2022. Sometimes, the Grey Cup week parties were more amazing than the actual game. The folks from out east aka the Atlantic Schooners would even have a party. A team that has never existed has represented at the site of the Grey Cup.
Hopefully, if you are in Regina this week, you will find things relatively close to normal in a 2019 kind of way.
This is the first Grey Cup in the new stadium in Regina. Surprisingly, Regina has only hosted 3 Grey Cups at the old Taylor Field: 1995, 2003, and 2013.
Terry Williams made CFL playoff history with his 126-yard return on a missed Winnipeg extra point. The Lions got 2 points that could have made a huge difference.
Montréal and BC played rather well in the division final. Both Toronto (34-27) and Winnipeg (28-20) played better and stronger when they needed to do so.
The idea of building on 2022 to go further sounds a little corny but may be the case for both of those teams. The Alouettes getting past Hamilton was huge psychologically and the Lions defeating a tough Calgary team will give some encouragement to the fan bases in Montréal and Vancouver.
Nathan Rourke won't make the Grey Cup. If there was a 3rd place bowl, we could have called it the Vernon Adams Jr. Bowl since the quarterback played for both teams in 2022.
Rourke became the first Canadian quarterback to lead his team to a playoff victory since Quebec-born Gerry Dattilio did it in 1980 for the Montréal Alouettes. In 2018, Brandon Bridge was the first Canadian QB to start a playoff game since Dattilio in 1984.
Not wanting to move ahead to 2023, yet Hamilton acquiring the playing rights for American quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. The Tiger-Cats still need to sign the long-time Calgary QB when free agency starts in February. Hamilton gives up its 3rd-round pick in 2023, 5th-round pick in 2024, and future considerations.
Mitchell will show up as part of the CFL on TSN coverage.
ESPN2 will have Grey Cup with pregame coverage a week from Sunday starting at 5:30 pm Eastern with a simsub of the TSN feed.
Though we have listed this before now, recapping the music artists for Sunday: The Grey Cup halftime show will feature Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, Jordan Davis, and Canada's own Josh Ross. Canadian indie-alternative band Valley will play during the pregame show. Teagan Littlechief will sing O Canada in Cree, English, and French.
Rod Smith and Duane Forde with Claire Hanna were in Toronto for the East final. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor with Farhan Lalji were in Winnipeg for the West final.
Smith said some beautiful words to the crew he was working with in Toronto. Heart on his sleeve. Smith and Suitor will call the Grey Cup while Nielson and Forde should be calling the Grey Cup on radio.
Home teams reigned supreme in the division semifinal games. Those home teams are now the road teams in the 2022 CFL division finals.
Toronto and Winnipeg are the home sites once again, just like in 2021. The opponents are very new. Montréal won its first playoff game since 2014 and the BC Lions have a playoff win for the first time since 2016.
The Alouettes drought is more substantial. The last time Montréal defeated an East team in the playoffs was the 2010 East final over the Toronto Argonauts.
In the days of Anthony Calvillo (Montréal) and Damon Allen (Toronto), the two CFL franchises had some amazing playoff games. The last time they played each other was in the 2012 East final at Olympic Stadium in Montréal.
The season history doesn't give an accurate picture. The teams played each other down the stretch but didn't show everything they had.
Toronto won the season series with Montréal 2-1. The Argos won 20-19 on June 16 at home. The teams split the last two games of the season with the road team winning both games. Toronto won 24-23 on October 22 and Montréal won 38-33 on October 29.
Winnipeg won 43-22 in Vancouver on July 9. That was the only full game Nathan Rourke lost as a starter as the Lions quarterback. BC won 40-32 in Vancouver on October 15 while the Blue Bombers came out on top 24-9 at home on October 28.
ESPN2
Sunday Montréal @ Toronto, 1p
ESPNews
Sunday BC @ Winnipeg, 4:30p
TSN
Sunday Montréal @ Toronto, 1p BC @ Winnipeg, 4:30p
You can't stop @walterfletcher_ ...you can only hope to contain him! His incredible touchdown is our @BudweiserCanada play of the week!
The Alouettes got the great start the team needed with a 22-6 halftime lead. Montréal has a strong running attack with Walter Fletcher and William Stanback, the latter having missed most of the regular season. The Alouettes won 28-17 on Sunday.
Alouettes fans are used to having the general manager come down to coach in the Jim Popp era. Danny Maciocia did the same though vowing not to coach in 2023. This is a jump start the team needed. Maciocia had great coaching success in Edmonton in what feels like a long time ago.
The Tiger-Cats started with Dane Evans with Matthew Shiltz arriving in the second half. Hamilton's problems continued in the playoff game with turnovers and not scoring touchdowns.
This was Montréal's first playoff win over Hamilton since 1996.
Hamilton continues the longest drought between Grey Cups, the only CFL team not to win the Grey Cup in the 21st century. The Tiger-Cats had reached the Grey Cup in the last 2 seasons in 2019 and 2021. The last Grey Cup win in the Steel City was in 1999.
Montréal has the second longest streak without a Grey Cup with the last win coming in 2010.
We had some standout performances on Sunday on all sides of the 🏈
Nathan Rourke didn't look 100% back to the form that wowed CFL fans. Rourke still had great numbers in the 30-16 win over the Calgary Stampeders. The BC Lions great defence was on display. Holding Calgary to field goal attempts until the final 2 minutes of the game shows that the Lions are not just Nathan Rourke.
The Stampeders gambled badly on a 3rd down conversion where on the subsequent drive, BC converted on a trick play in a short yardage situation. Calgary needed a strong run game to stay in the game yet Kadeem Carey only had a single rushing attempt in the first quarter.
Bo Levi Mitchell may have played his last game with Calgary, according to the experts. Switching quarterbacks seems to be the equivalent of switching NHL goalies. Not the players fault but the easiest change to make. Mitchell did lead Calgary to its only touchdown, albeit with fewer than 2 minutes left in the game.
The Lions had lost 5 straight playoff games to the Stampeders. The previous last playoff win for BC over Calgary was the 2000 West final before winning the Grey Cup.
BC Place was a festive party place on Sunday. Sarah McLachlan sang O Canada. Steven Page performed at halftime. The upper deck was open and the announced attendance was 30,114. No East stadium could fit that large of a crowd. The capacity of the Winnipeg and Calgary stadiums isn't too much larger than that crowd.
Owner Amar Doman has done a great job in revitalising the franchise. There is much more work to do. A nice example to help out Toronto and Montréal. Playoff wins help, though not in Toronto.
The Toronto Argonauts are opening the upper east side of BMO Field for the East Final due to high ticket demand. The original ticket manifest for the game was 19,000. Those seats have since sold out.
Note the split on the U.S. side for the television coverage. ESPN2 carried the transition time between the games last week. ESPNews will carry the transition into the West final for the U.S. audience.
ESPN2 will have Grey Cup with pregame coverage a week from Sunday starting at 5:30 pm Eastern with a simsub of the TSN feed.
The Grey Cup halftime show will feature Tyler Hubbard of Florida Georgia Line, Jordan Davis, and Canada's own Josh Ross. The initial release implied (inferred?) that Davis was also in that band. Punctuation is important.
Country music, well, modern country music makes sense in a Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Valley, a Canadian indie-alternative band, will play in the pregame show.
Teagan Littlechief will sing O Canada before the 109th Grey Cup, performing the national anthem in Cree, English, and French.
Rod Smith and Duane Forde with Matthew Scianitti were in Montréal for the East semifinal. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor with Farhan Lalji were in Vancouver for the West semifinal.
The same configuration will be in place on Sunday for the division finals, except Claire Hanna will be in for Scianitti since he is off to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
Paul LaPolice went back to his backup job in the CFL on TSN studio coverage. The former Ottawa head coach may only do this temporarily, though LaPolice is also good at that job.
logo credit: CFL Twitter captures: @MTLAlouettes; @BCLions
Western Final: TBD at Winnipeg Western Semi-Final: Calgary at BC Eastern Final: TBD at Toronto Eastern Semi-Final: Hamilton at Montrealhttps://t.co/QZ7r7dQ4tF
The 2022 CFL playoffs have 6 teams: 3 in the East and 3 in the West. This is the second year in a row where that is true. The crossover seemed to be a part of the CFL playoff picture in the late 2010s.
Winnipeg and Toronto have byes and await their opponents for home games in those cities on November 13. Those were the sites of the CFL division finals in 2021. The difference was that Hamilton pulled off the road upset while Winnipeg came out on top.
The 2022 Grey Cup will be in Regina, home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, a team that missed the playoffs.
Montréal won the season series over Hamilton 2-1 with each team winning at home. The Tiger-Cats won 24-17 on July 28 in the Steel City. The Alouettes edged out a win 29-28 on August 20. Montréal got the tiebreaker with a 23-16 win on September 23. In the 3 games, the Alouettes scored 1 more point than the Tiger-Cats.
The West semifinal produced the opposite result, where the road team won every game in 2022. The Lions posted a 41-40 win in Calgary on August 13 in what was the most exciting game in the league in 2022. BC pulled out a 31-29 overtime win on September 17. Calgary had the widest margin of victory in Vancouver with a 25-11 win over the BC Lions on September 24. The Stampeders had a +11 point advantage despite losing 2 out of 3.
Nathan Rourke played the first quarter for the BC Lions last Friday. That makes an already intriguing West semifinal that much more interesting.
ESPN2
Sunday Hamilton @ Montréal, 1p Calgary @ BC, 4:30p
TSN
Sunday Hamilton @ Montréal, 1p Calgary @ BC, 4:30p
The BC Lions playoff drought is on some level related to 2018. The Lions crossed over because BC won a tiebreaker with Edmonton. The Lions went into Hamilton and lost 48-8.
2016 marked the 20th straight playoff year for the BC Lions, longer than any current streak. BC hosted a playoff game that year in the West Division. The playoff drought in Vancouver has been severe.
This is the first indoor CFL playoff game since 2016. In 2012, 3 of the 4 CFL playoff games leading into the Grey Cup were played indoors.
The BC Lions under new owner Amar Doman get a well-deserved break in hosting the 2024 Grey Cup in Vancouver. The West Coast city has hosted the Grey Cup 16 times, the most recent time was 2014.
Given that a West team crept into the East semifinal 2016-2019, 2014, 2012, and 2009, Hamilton and Montréal couldn't get together too often in the CFL playoffs. Yet Sunday's game will be the 4th game the 2 teams have played in the East semifinal since 2011.
Year
Road
Home
Score
2021
Montréal
Hamilton
12-23
2013
Montréal
Hamilton
16-19*
2011
Hamilton
Montréal
52-44*
*game went into overtime
This doesn't bode well for the Alouettes, the team that lost all 3 of these playoff games.
The 2013 game was the infamous wind game in Guelph, ON.
Team
Total
Home
Road
BC
8
5
3
Saskatchewan
6
4
2
Winnipeg
5
1
4
Ottawa
5
2
3
Montréal
4
2
2
Toronto
4
2
2
Edmonton
3
2
1
Hamilton
3
0
3
Calgary
2
2
0
The BC Lions had the biggest bounce back on the field and ESPN cable appearances. Almost half of the BC games were on U.S. cable TV, including 5 in Vancouver. Saskatchewan had 6 games with 4 at home on ESPN2 or ESPNews.
The Ottawa RedBlacks, worst team in the East, got 5 appearances along with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, best team in the West.
For the second year in a row, Tim Hortons Field, home of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, did not get on TV. Calgary was only shown at home.
June 16 Montréal @ Toronto, 7:30p ESPN2 June 17 Winnipeg @ Ottawa, 7:30p ESPN2 June 18 Saskatchewan @ Edmonton, 9:30p ESPNEWS June 24 Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p ESPN2 June 25 Toronto @ BC, 10p ESPN2 June 30 BC @ Ottawa, 7:30p ESPN2
July 2 Montréal @ Saskatchewan, 7p ESPN2 July 8 Ottawa @ Saskatchewan, 9:30p ESPNEWS July 9 Winnipeg @ BC, 7p ESPNEWS July 14 Edmonton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPN2 July 22 Winnipeg @ Edmonton, 9p ESPN2 July 23 Toronto @ Saskatchewan, 7p ESPNEWS July 29 BC @ Saskatchewan, 9p ESPN2 July 30 Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p ESPN2
August 6 Hamilton @ Toronto, 7p ESPN2 // Edmonton @ BC, 10p ESPN2 August 13 BC at Calgary, 7p ESPNews August 26 Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
September 23 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPN2 September 30 Ottawa @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2 October 10 Ottawa @ Montréal, 1p ESPN2
5 of the final 6 CFL seasons in the 2010s had a crossover. Hasn't been one since 2019. 2015 was the sole season in that stretch where there was no crossover. There were 3 East teams all above .500. In fact, the 3rd place BC Lions in 2015 were a playoff team under .500.
2015 was also the first year all 3 Ontario teams made the playoffs since 1983. Ottawa had a 12-6 record and Hamilton and Toronto tied at 10-8.
This season, the East semifinal will be Hamilton (8-10) at Montréal (9-9). By contrast, the Lions and Stampeders were both 12-6. BC hosts the West semifinal because of winning the tiebreaker with Calgary.
Saskatchewan didn't waste time adjusting its coaching roster. Craig Dickenson stays as head coach. 3 assistant coaches are gone: Jason Maas (offensive coordinator), Stephen Sorrells (run game coordinator and offensive line), and Travis Moore (receivers).
The offensive line blocking was a key negative for the Roughriders. Cody Fajardo's injuries did not help plus the awkward, reluctant inclusion to finally give Mason Fine some time.
Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor did 2 games out west with Farhan Lalji on Friday in Winnipeg and Brit Dort on Saturday in Calgary.
Marshall Ferguson and Duane Forde started out the tripleheader with Matthew Scianitti in Toronto. Rod Smith and Matt Dunigan with Claire Hanna were in Ottawa for the middle game.
TNT finally gets to show Canadian teams this season. The network airs a rare Tuesday night game on Election Night in the United States. The Edmonton Oilers are in Dave Randorf country that night (8). The Oilers host their opening round playoff opponents from Los Angeles (16). The Ottawa Senators make their TNT debut at Gary Bettman's favourite desert locale (23). The Oilers are in Chicago on the final day of the month (30).
ESPN waited until late April to show a Canadian team as part of the new deal. The network is still afraid to go to Canada, choosing a Toronto road game against the team that benefited from the fine play of David Ayres (6).
There are no ESPN+/Hulu games this month.
NHL Network starts out November with an Original 6 matchup on Hockey Night in Canada as Boston comes to Toronto (5). The other HNIC games on the U.S. network include Sidney Crosby in Montréal (12) and Toronto where Crosby plays his home games (26).
The Canadian teams join in on the Saturday matinee Showcase games that the NHL Network produces on its own with announcers not on site. The Ottawa Senators are in Philadelphia (12) and host New Jersey (19). Edmonton travels to Madison Square Garden as well (26).
The Calgary Saturday afternoon game (19) where Matthew Tkachuk now plays is likely not a Showcase game. The U.S. network shows Montréal at home hosting Buffalo (22) on the week of U.S. Thanksgiving. Winnipeg travels to Chicago on the Sunday after U.S. Thanksgiving, which is not opposite the Grey Cup this year.
Credit to the NHL Network for featuring every Canadian team in November, except for the Vancouver Canucks. Given the Vancouver start, that isn't too bad.
TNT
November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p
ESPN
November 6 Toronto @ Carolina, 5p
NHL Network
November 5 Boston @ Toronto, 7p (HNIC) November 12 Ottawa @ Philadelphia, 1p (Showcase) Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p (HNIC) November 19 New Jersey @ Ottawa, 1p (Showcase) Calgary @ Florida, 4p November 22 Buffalo @ Montréal, 7p November 26 Edmonton @ NY Rangers, 1p (Showcase) Toronto @ Pittsburgh, 7p (HNIC) November 27 Winnipeg @ Chicago, 7p
Hockey Night in Canada
November 5
Boston @ Toronto, 7p/Las Vegas @ Montréal, 7p/Philadelphia @ Ottawa, 7p/New Jersey @ Calgary, 10p/Nashville @ Vancouver, 10p
November 12
Vancouver @ Toronto, 7p/Pittsburgh @ Montréal, 7p/Winnipeg @ Calgary, 10p
Ron MacLean is back to hosting both segments of Hockey Night in Canada now that Hometown Hockey is no longer a thing. David Amber is hosting the Monday night national telecasts aka Monday Night Hockey.
I still think Hometown Hockey could have run as a separate program on Citytv, especially given how little actual Canadian content runs on the Rogers-owned network. Then they could show bits and pieces from that show during the Monday night telecasts.
We did find out Randip Janda will be part of the Vancouver Canucks radio coverage on Sportsnet 650. Janda replaces Corey Hirsch, as we noted earlier.
There are 2 notable points on the move. Janda is not a former player, an unusual move but not a huge shock. Play-by-play person Brendan Batchelor will be alone on Saturday games since Janda also hosts Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition.
Peter Ruttgaizer seems to be the one calling the Montréal Canadiens radio on TSN 690, ultimately replacing Dan Robertson, who is doing Winnipeg Jets television. Sean Campbell will likely be in the mix, especially when Bryan Mudryk slips away from Habs TV to call curling. Robertson filled in during previous years, getting some good TV experience.
Kenzie Lalonde, the new Habs sideline reporter on TSN, could fill in with Mudryk since Lalonde has hockey play by play experience.
Unlike Ben Wagner on the Toronto Blue Jays radio broadcasts, Batchelor does get a radio partner most of the time.
On the TV side, TSN4 is going with Mike Johnson to replace Ray Ferraro on Maple Leafs telecasts with Dave Poulin doing more Habs games on TSN2. Craig Button will likely appear on both on games in the west.
Didn't have the NHL Center Ice free preview lasting 4 days into the NHL season. A while back in the before time, the preview would run 3 weeks. ESPN+ has every non TNT, ESPN, ESPN+/Hulu game. I do love the local commercials, something the NHL Center Ice package gives you. Some days, I am more in love with the Canadian commercials with the hockey.
Speaking of commercials, no one seems to be enjoying the new digital ads. If you have trouble following the puck, the ads make following that puck a lot more difficult. You can still see the in-arena ads when the camera shoots at ice level. There was a charm to guessing where the game was based on the ads along the boards.
The ones collecting the new revenue don't honestly care whether the digital ads are distracting. The rich always need more $.
Jets Runway is a new feature on Winnipeg Jets games on TSN3. John Lu goes out of his way to say the feature is a partnership with the Winnipeg Jets and Bell Media. The Bell Media stamp is on the feature. From a journalism standpoint, this is "content." Content is the buzzword like you are pretending to do journalism but you aren't.
Watching the Jets practice and coach Rick Bowness talk to players isn't about getting you to eat a new snack chip. The timing is also intriguing after the NHL team hires Sara Orlesky, who hosted the Jets coverage on TSN3 since 2011, to create content.
TSN has studio coverage for its half of the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as the Montréal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators but not the Winnipeg Jets. Orlesky was able to fill the time when she was the host.
Orlesky is a trained journalist producing content that isn't journalism. Bell Media should have the same high standards that the company had … last season.
This is a journalism issue in the United States and Canada, not just applicable to TSN3 and the Winnipeg Jets.
Honoured to be joining the NHL on @Sportsnet broadcast team to call play-by-play on Hockey Night in Canada on a more regular basis this season. Heading to Ottawa to call the Senators/Flyers November 5th and then to Winnipeg for Jets/Penguins and Hurricanes November 19th and 21st. pic.twitter.com/oAvgvKeDRA
The Calgary Flames were down their on-air TV crew with Rick Ball and Kelly Hrudey out at the same time. Hrudey got COVID-19 and Rick Ball had a pulmonary embolism; both were mentioned on Hockey Night in Canada. Ball is reportedly okay. Our thoughts go out to Ball, his family, and friends during his recovery.
October 28 Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN+/Hulu
This is the first U.S. telecast of the Winnipeg Jets in the new TV deal (this is Season 2). The Jets got little love from NBCSN under the old contract. Winnipeg was on the NHL Network 5 times last season, 1 of them being a Hockey Night in Canada game.
The Jets were only invited to this charade because of the irony of a NHL team ripped from a city that loves hockey to a city that doesn't like hockey. Sounds cruel to me.
This was, unfortunately, the only Jets appearance set for U.S. television this season. Hope they spent some time talking about the Winnipeg Jets 2.0. If you skipped this game, you missed yet another stellar set of commentary from Boucher.
The NHL Network carried a single CBC feed on Hockey Night in Canada in October. We plan to run those promos in the next blog entry heading into December. We apologise for the delay. There are higher priorities these days.
photo credit: NHL Twitter captures: @NHLJets; @LuckyMikeLuck; @ryanlesliemedia
Djordje Mihailovic scored a goal for CF Montréal in the 85th minute in the Eastern Conference semifinals in the 2022 MLS playoffs. Down 3-0, the goal wasn't noteworthy as NYCFC advances to the Eastern Conference final 3-1 at Stade Saputo.
The game was the franchise's first home playoff loss after winning the first 5 home MLS playoff games. This was only the second loss for Club de Foot Montréal in the last 17 games, playoffs included.
NYCFC, the #3 seed, advances to Philadelphia to play the Union next Sunday.
Miahilovic also scored a goal in the CF Montréal playoff win against Orlando City SC. Ismaël Koné scored the only regulation goal in last week's playoff game.
The playoff win was the first for CF Montréal since 2016 and the first for any Canadian MLS team since the 2019 Eastern Conference final for Toronto FC.
Wilfried Nancy should get a lot of votes for the MLS coach of the year with the work he did for this franchise.
We noted in our coverage that the Club de Foot Montréal will look very different. There will even be a new logo for the 2023 team.
ESPN's Adrian Healey referred to Montréal as the "capital of french speaking Quebec" in both ESPN telecasts. This sentence makes sense to an anglophone audience. Quebec City is the capital of Quebec and is objectively more French than Montréal. Not saying right or wrong to Healey's comment. Would be an intriguing debate.
Editor's note:This article has been updated to reflect the voluntary departure of Ray Ferraro from TSN.
This is Year 2 of the new U.S. TV deal. ESPN had the Stanley Cup finals last season so TNT covers the Stanley Cup finals in 2023.
As far as we know, the TNT on-air package remains the same. The TNT intermissions were more interesting than the NBC version and occasionally dealt with the game at hand.
As a reminder: Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, and Keith Jones as the primary team with Brendan Burke and Darren Pang as the backup team. Liam McHugh leads the studio crew with Anson Carter, Rick Tocchet, Paul Bissonnette, and sometimes Wayne Gretzky. Jennifer Botterill (Rogers Sportsnet), Tarik El-Bashir, and Jackie Redmond (Canadian) also contribute to the TNT package.
Here is the TNT schedule involving Canadian teams. Schedule is subject to change.
November 8 Edmonton @ Tampa Bay, 7:30p November 16 Los Angeles @ Edmonton, 10p November 23 Ottawa @ Las Vegas, 10p November 30 Edmonton @ Chicago, 9:30p December 14 Vancouver @ Calgary, 10p December 21 Edmonton @ Dallas, 9:30p January 11 Nashville @ Toronto, 7:30p January 25 NY Rangers @ Toronto, 7p January 25 Columbus @ Edmonton, 9:30p February 15 Chicago @ Toronto, 7p March 8 Anaheim @ Vancouver, 10p March 15 Colorado @ Toronto, 7p March 22 Arizona @ Edmonton, 10:30p April 5 Edmonton @ Anaheim, 10p April 12 San Jose @ Calgary, 10p
Calgary gets 2 games while Montréal has 0 games. TNT discovers Ottawa has a team but won't show them in Canada. Toronto and Edmonton dominate the schedule. Vancouver has 2 games.
The TNT schedule has mostly Wednesday doubleheaders with some Sunday games and a Tuesday game on the U.S. midterm election night.
Like TNT, the ESPN lineups should pretty much be the same. The regular season package is on ESPN and ABC. Canadian teams have more ESPN appearances than last year. You might recall ESPN and ESPN+/Hulu refused to show any NHL games on Canadian soil last season: the 2022-2023 season have a single game on Canadian soil. How did ESPN get so afraid of being in Canada.
The ESPN+/Hulu games are exclusive within the local markets. The ESPN play-by-play people are Sean McDonough, Steve Levy, John Buccigross, Bob Wischusen, and Leah Hextall (Canadian). Colour analysts include Ray Ferraro, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Brian Boucher, Kevin Weekes, A.J. Mleczko, Hilary Knight, and Ryan Callahan. Studio analysts include Mark Messier, Chris Chelios, Rick DiPietro, and Barry Melrose.
ESPN has reporters: Blake Bolden, Emily Kaplan, and Greg Wyshynski. Linda Cohn will host In the Crease for ESPN+ and contribute to NHL coverage.
October 28 Winnipeg @ Arizona, 10:30p ESPN+/Hulu November 6 Toronto vs. Carolina, 5p ESPN December 1 Edmonton @ Minnesota, 8p ESPN+/Hulu December 6 Toronto @ Dallas, 8:30p ESPN+/Hulu December 30 Edmonton @ Seattle, 10p ESPN+/Hulu January 12 Toronto @ Detroit, 7p ESPN January 23 Columbus @ Calgary, 9:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 7 Edmonton @ Detroit, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 19 Toronto @ Chicago, 6p ESPN+/Hulu February 21 Toronto @ Buffalo, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu February 23 Calgary @ Las Vegas, 9p ESPN March 9 Edmonton @ Boston, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu March 21 Toronto @ NY Islanders, 7:30p ESPN+/Hulu March 28 Edmonton @ Las Vegas, 10p ESPN+/Hulu April 4 Edmonton @ Los Angeles, 10:30p ESPN April 11 Toronto @ Tampa Bay, 7p ESPN April 11 Edmonton @ Colorado, 9:30p ESPN
Gord Miller did some first-round playoff games for ESPN. The schedule didn't allow him to do too many games. We expect Miller to concentrate on hockey on TSN.
ESPN+, not to be confused with ESPN+/Hulu, carries every game not aired on TNT, the ESPN family, and the NHL Network. Those games are subject to local blackouts. ESPN has a new name for those games: NHL Power Play. So cute.
Our monthly NHL updates will feature ESPN+/Hulu games.
Hometown Hockey suffered a bit with the pandemic and the move to Monday nights last fall. Rogers has canceled Hometown Hockey after 8 seasons. The program ran on Citytv in the first season (2014-2015) and Rogers Sportsnet for the next 7 seasons.
Tara Slone as well as key people behind the scenes lost their jobs at Rogers. They told some really great Canadian stories. This was the exciting part of Rogers bid to carry NHL national games. The program would likely still be around if it wasn't for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ron MacLean will continue to host the early games on Saturday nights David Amber hosts the late games on Hockey Night in Canada.
The NHL Network didn't carry any Hometown Hockey footage this past season, even when carrying the Hometown Hockey game. The loss also deprives Canadians to get a flavour of small towns in their own country. Still Standing does this in a different way on CBC.
Going to miss this guy! Massive part of our Habs on TSN team! So happy my guy @JohnLuTSNMtl gets to go back home to Winnipeg for the Jets gig. @djpoulin20 said he will step up his suit game in John’s absence. Much love buddy ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ObkCywRQX0
Winnipeg Jets fans have only known Dennis Beyak on TV (and some radio) play by play in the 2.0 version. Beyak will still do amateur hockey for TSN but cut back his overall schedule.
Long-time Montréal radio voice Dan Robertson replaces Beyak as the new TV voice for the Jets on TSN3. Robertson called the Canadiens games on TSN 690 for 8 years, occasionally filled in on the TV side for the Habs on TSN2. Robertson was impressive in the few times your humble narrator saw him on TSN2.
Obvious suspects had been Brian Munz, who shared the Jets radio call with Beyak on TSN 1290 until the start of the 2021 season, or Paul Edmonds, who has been calling Jets radio since 2021 on 680 CJOB.
John Lu, who worked the NHL and CFL in Montréal, returned home to Winnipeg to replace Sara Orlesky, the only host in the history of the Winnipeg Jets 2.0, left TSN to work for the Jets content team as a senior host/producer. There is talk of postgame content on the Jets social media outlets and more interviews about the players without the helmets.
Bell Media isn't big on press releases so we may have to monitor how TSN 690 handles the Canadiens radio changes. Robertson called the Canadiens with former Habs player Sergio Momesso. Sean Campbell was Robertson's backup on radio when Robertson was filling in on TV. Campbell also does play by play for the Laval Rocket and Montréal Alouettes.
1/2 Want to thank @TSN_Sports for an unforgettable 14 years. I needed to find some balance in my life – I’m giving up some work to spend more time with my 4 boys, 2 grandkids and of course Cammi. Looking fwd to yr 2 on @ESPN and hope to pop on once in a while here in the future
The rest of the TSN lineup does not follow what we saw last season. Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro had been the most excellent team on Maple Leafs games on TSN4. Ferraro is staying with ESPN. Maybe Miller and Ferraro can call playoff hockey on ESPN. The team isn't just about people great at their jobs. Their chemistry was stellar, an adjective your humble narrator does not use often.
Miller and Jon Abbott with Jamie McLennan (mostly) on Senators games on TSN5; Robertson and Kevin Sawyer on Jets games on TSN3; and Bryan Mudryk (mostly) with Mike Johnson, Dave Poulin, and Craig Button on Canadiens games on TSN2.
The 3-headed analysts for the Habs will likely work the Leafs games with McLennan perhaps in the mix. Abbott should also see action filling in on Habs games when Mudryk is covering the world of curling.
No changes on the Rogers Sportsnet side on the local telecasts: Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson continue as the Sportsnet combo for local Toronto Maple Leafs telecasts with Greg Millen in the mix.
Corey Hirsch announced he was leaving Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, presumably including Canucks colour analysis. Hirsch says he is moving full time into his mental health initiatives. We only found out recently that the Vancouver Canucks will be back on Sportsnet 650 this season.
On the U.S. side, Eddie Olczyk flips from Chicago to Seattle. Olczyk with work with John Forslund and J.T. Brown on the Seattle Kraken TV coverage. Olczyk will stay with TNT on national games.
Chris Vosters is the new Chicago play-by-play person on TV. Vosters won the competition to replace Pat Foley, who started calling Chicago games in 1981.
We know Olczyk's brother Ricky is an assistant general manager for the Kraken. We also think Olczyk made a smart call. The Hawks coverage has been more rah-rah lately and Olczyk would have been in the way with the new direction. He also doesn't have to pay state income tax in Washington state.
Troy Murray and Patrick Sharp will replace Olczyk, who spent 16 years doing colour analysis in Chicago.
Dan Dunleavy is the sole play-by-play voice for the Buffalo Sabres. Dunleavy had shared the microphone with Hall of Fame announcer Rick Jeanneret. The Sabres had done a radio/TV simulcast in part because of the legacy of Jeanneret.
photo credits: NHL on TNT; NHL on ESPN logo credit: Hometown Hockey/Rogers Sportsnet Twitter capture: @BryanMudryk; @rayferrarotsn
